Berger, a Republican, made the announcement at the Rockingham County Courthouse, where a magistrate resigned last week after being told he could not recuse himself on religious grounds from performing same-sex civil marriages.

According to Berger, the courts are required by law to consider alternatives to respect employees' religious beliefs. But instructions issued to counties by the state's Administrative Office of the Courts last week didn't offer any such alternatives. The AOC memo warned that magistrates could be suspended or fined for refusing to perform same-sex marriages.

“The court’s expansion of the freedoms of some should not violate the well-recognized constitutional rights of others,” Berger was quoted in a press release. “Complying with the new marriage law imposed by the courts should not require our state employees to compromise their core religious beliefs and First Amendment rights in order to protect their livelihoods.”

Greg Wallace, a professor at Campbell University's Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, said he supports "statutory religious freedom protections for those who are going to be in the unusual position of being forced against their religious convictions to facilitate gay marriage."

"There’s a question as to whether marriage is a power of the magistrate as opposed to a duty of the magistrate," Wallace explained. "If it’s a power, then it can be exercised with discretion."

But state ACLU legal director Chris Brook said such legislation would "pose huge problems."

Brook pointed to the example of two Forsyth County magistrates in 1977 who refused to marry a mixed-race couple on religious grounds. The couple sued, and the magistrates lost.

"State officials don't get to pick and choose which laws they follow. Marriage equality is settled law in North Carolina," Brook said. "As Governor McCrory and other officials have made clear, the highest responsibility of state actors is to uphold the United States Constitution. This is not about an individual’s religious liberty; this is about state officials being bound by their oath to the United States Constitution."

"Could magistrates opt out of interracial marriages? Could Catholic magistrates refuse to officiate civil ceremonies for divorced Catholics?" Brook asked. "It implicitly acknowledges we would have to allow a magistrate to opt out in those scenarios as well."

Wallace said he doesn't believe those scenarios are comparable.

"I think we’ve had a Civil War and three constitutional amendments on the race issue, so I don’t think the race issue is necessarily analogous to the gay marriage issue," he said. "Discretion has its limits. For example, I don’t think a magistrate could refuse to marry a mixed-race couple. But again, I don’t agree that there’s a strong analogy between race and gay marriage."

LGBT advocacy group Equality NC vowed to fight any such legislation, calling it a waste of taxpayer dollars and saying federal law already offers clear legal precedent on the question.

"The issue at hand is not about individuals' rights to freedom of religion, and Berger, as an attorney, should understand the law well enough to know that. The issue at hand is a matter of employees of the state of North Carolina doing their jobs," Equality NC director Chris Sgro said in a statement.

"The measure proposed by Berger and his extreme, anti-LGBT special interests thereby represents an unprecedented overreach that encourages state employees to only follow the laws that they support and is akin to purported religious freedom legislation summarily vetoed by the Republican governor of Arizona," Sgro added. "In even more states, similar legislation has been proposed and failed, flatly rejected by the community, business leaders and fair-minded members of both parties."

Meantime, same-sex marriage opponents applauded Berger for "protecting the religious freedoms of the citizens of North Carolina."

"You shouldn't have to sacrifice your religious beliefs just to keep your job. That's just wrong, and it violates our first freedom--the right to freely exercise your religious beliefs," said NC Values Coalition director Tami Fitzgerald in a statement. "Government was never intended to be hostile to religion, and we agree with Senator Berger that a legislative fix is in order."

markaharris313Oct 22, 2014

Thank God for Phil Berger. Why must someone perform a ceremony for something God sees as a abomination? It is against someone's Christian principles to perform a perverted wedding.

— Posted by Sonja Yagel

My God doesn't sees it as an abomination?

EliteOneOct 22, 2014

Amen. ;-)

Carl KeehnOct 22, 2014

View quoted thread

They should be exempt from performing an act that is an abomination to God. Homosexual people are bound for HELL unless they stop their perverted behavior and ask for forgiveness immediately. God says in Leviticus 20:13 that homosexual behavior is an abomination that will result in death and burning in HELL forever. Wake up people, this is 100% against Gods' will and no Christian should have to be involved with it period. You cannot be a Christian and accept this abomination. You cannot be a Christian and be involved with much of anything the democratic party is pushing. I didn't make this up, its not just my opinion, it is your duty as a Christian to abide by the word of God. If you're not a Christian, no problem then, carry on. I can only hope and pray that you turn before you burn for this is surely your destiny if you don't.

— Posted by hfm83

Matthew 7:1-5

Terry WattsOct 22, 2014

The Oath of every NC County Magistrate:

"I, ___________, do solemnly and sincerely swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States; that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the State of North Carolina, and to the constitutional powers and authorities which are or may be established for the government thereof; and that I will endeavor to support, maintain and defend the Constitution of said State, not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, to the best of my knowledge and ability; so help me God."

Tony SnarkOct 22, 2014

View quoted thread

TONY SNARK says, to paraphrase him, that religion is like a cancer in its effect on a person's mind.

I would go farther and say that ANYTHING which causes irrationality and prejudice is like unto a cancer of the mind. Religion can do this; so can any unreasonable preoccupation. This can include as well, but is by no means limited to, an objectively unreasonable prejudice against religion.

— Posted by sinenomine

Good thing that my opinion on religion is not unreasonable!

ClassifiedOct 22, 2014

View quoted thread

They should be exempt from performing an act that is an abomination to God. Homosexual people are bound for HELL unless they stop their perverted behavior and ask for forgiveness immediately. God says in Leviticus 20:13 that homosexual behavior is an abomination that will result in death and burning in HELL forever. Wake up people, this is 100% against Gods' will and no Christian should have to be involved with it period. You cannot be a Christian and accept this abomination. You cannot be a Christian and be involved with much of anything the democratic party is pushing. I didn't make this up, its not just my opinion, it is your duty as a Christian to abide by the word of God. If you're not a Christian, no problem then, carry on. I can only hope and pray that you turn before you burn for this is surely your destiny if you don't.

— Posted by hfm83

And there you have it folks, the best argument for the need of separation of church and state! If we don’t teach our children to think, religion will teach them not to.

teleman60Oct 22, 2014

Just MORE DESPERATE POSTURING from the folks that gave you voter ID , motorcycle abortion bill, NO FAULT DUKE ash cleanup, tax cuts for millionaires, Yacht and jet taxcuts, closing polling places and early voting, HIGH INTEREST LOANS to OUR TROOPS, and on and on...

Why can't they all just GO AWAY! We should be able to deny Berger his job on religious grounds - that WE God fearing folk DON"T ABIDE HYPOCRITES!!

sinenomineOct 22, 2014

TONY SNARK says, to paraphrase him, that religion is like a cancer in its effect on a person's mind.

I would go farther and say that ANYTHING which causes irrationality and prejudice is like unto a cancer of the mind. Religion can do this; so can any unreasonable preoccupation. This can include as well, but is by no means limited to, an objectively unreasonable prejudice against religion.

Tony SnarkOct 22, 2014

View quoted thread

They should be exempt from performing an act that is an abomination to God. Homosexual people are bound for HELL unless they stop their perverted behavior and ask for forgiveness immediately. God says in Leviticus 20:13 that homosexual behavior is an abomination that will result in death and burning in HELL forever. Wake up people, this is 100% against Gods' will and no Christian should have to be involved with it period. You cannot be a Christian and accept this abomination. You cannot be a Christian and be involved with much of anything the democratic party is pushing. I didn't make this up, its not just my opinion, it is your duty as a Christian to abide by the word of God. If you're not a Christian, no problem then, carry on. I can only hope and pray that you turn before you burn for this is surely your destiny if you don't.

— Posted by hfm83

Look at what religion does to a person's mind. It's like a cancer.

thewatchmanOct 22, 2014

View quoted thread

I have yet to see someone point out in the Bible where it says you can't perform a gay marriage. I have also yet to see where it says gays can't get married. It may have a few brief mentions against homosexuality (that are actually incorrectly translated from the original text) in the Old Testament, but nothing against gay marriage.

— Posted by Matt Wood

Apparently you haven't read the Bible at all. God ordained marriage between a man and a woman, not man with man or a woman with a woman. Genesis 2:4-25. Homosexuality forbidden by God. Leviticus 18:22. Sodom and Gommorah were destroyed because of homosexuality. Romans 1:26-27 tells us that God gave those who practice homosexuality over to a reprobate mind. So don't misquote what the Scriptures say and just because some so called "religious authority" says its alright, does not make it alright in the eyes of God.